Out in the big blue

When last in the Cook Islands I spent a few days on tiny Mauke and, while there, really did feel a million miles from anywhere, far away from everyday cares. We cycled along sandy tracks beneath lofty palms, visited the pretty and unusual whitewashed church at Areora in the island's centre, inspected some caves and lazed on deserted white sands by a limpid lagoon. It was exactly how I'd hoped it to be.

Isolation lends the Cooks the much desired cachet of peaceful and safe. It's also affordable. Local prices being keyed to the New Zealand dollar make these islands considerably cheaper as a holiday option than neighbouring Euro-linked Tahiti. Black pearls here are almost a bargain!

Mauke is a speck of land in the big blue, a pinprick on the map, much less known than the main island of Rarotonga or popular Aitutaki. Way out there in the vastness of the Pacific Ocean it's often extremely hard to get noticed. That's why the Cook Islands instead came to the city this week, transforming a hotel ballroom into "little Rarotonga" for the night.

The vibrant roadshow was to launch the "re-branding" of the distant, tiny island nation. The focus of the evening was on new directions ..... but some things never change. A highlight was the performance by sinuous dancers in garlands, grass skirts and coconut bras together with a squad of beefy, bare-chested lads who may well have been the Cook Island Chippendales.

Tourism chief Chris Wong described the event as part of "masterplan" to build tourism into the future. "It's difficult for islands to find a brand to hang onto for the future, to avoid stereotypes, to find out what sets us apart." The result of this soul searching is a new slogan Live Differently. What each of the various Cook Islands have to offer is spilt into seven categories aimed at different tourist markets. "These seven themes reflect the Cook Island experience that we can deliver and that we feel comfortable about," says Wong.

You can find out more about these themes on the new Cook Islands website, itself a core component in the bid to boost tourism. The message is simple; the Cooks are about the people, the culture and the environment. Island life is one of simplicity, but with modern trimmings.

Wong says the Cooks enjoy 98% visitor satisfaction. "You see tears in the eyes of people leaving at the end of their holiday", he says, quickly adding that "it's that two percent I worry about!"

Airfares to Rarotonga from Australia currently start from $698. Have a look at these holiday specials. And there are five-night escape to Rarotonga packages from Air New Zealand starting at just under $1400 from Melbourne or Sydney. But I'd expect this new marketing push will prompt even better deals in the near future. So keep an eye out for what's cooking in the Cooks!

Posted
by Rob WoodburnAugust 4, 2006 8:07 AM

LATEST COMMENTS

well and true as I am from there the haven on earth.

kia orana e kia manuia

Posted by: PAREI T JOSEPH on August 4, 2006 10:43 AM

Your picture of the Mauke-Oiretumu Church where I attended for the better part of my early years brought tears to my eyes.
Meitaki Rava

Posted by: Motu Maeva on August 4, 2006 5:06 PM

Just notice my e-mailadress.
"Oceania" for me IS Rarotonga when I was there on a weeks charter in May/June 2001. Unforgettable feeling to have been in Polynesia, being a compatriot of Thor Heyerdahl (Kon Tiki) and Erlend Loe (L): Sissel from Norway. What I remember most vivid was the colour shock on the beach the first morning (blue, white, green), just STUNNING and UNFORGETTABLE.
I still found Rarotonga very normal, concerning the mentality of its small population. 13 congregational signs along the roadside and family graves in the private gardens were other memories

Posted by: Sissel on August 4, 2006 9:16 PM

Just notice my e-mailadress.
"Oceania" for me IS Rarotonga when I was there on a weeks charter in May/June 2001. Unforgettable feeling to have been in Polynesia, being a compatriot of Thor Heyerdahl (Kon Tiki) and Erlend Loe (L): Sissel from Norway. What I remember most vivid was the colour shock on the beach the first morning (blue, white, green), just STUNNING and UNFORGETTABLE.
I still found Rarotonga very normal, concerning the mentality of its small population. 13 congregational signs along the roadside and family graves in the private gardens were other memories